1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to systems for plasma thermal microtreatment of any type of solid waste on any scale, by means of pre-treatment of the waste and pyrolysis through exposure to plasma.
2. Related Art
It is known that the plasma treatment of solid waste is in theory very effective in so far as sublimation, pyrolysis (in the absence of oxygen), or gasification (in the presence of a limited amount of oxygen) at an extremely high temperature of the organic materials (whether natural ones or synthetic ones), melting of the metals, and melting/vitrification of inert waste are obtained simultaneously.
However, it is likewise known that the reaction that involves these phenomena does not occur generally in a complete way for thermokinetic reasons. In other words, the speed of reaction is not sufficient for integral treatment of the waste that enters the reactor, especially in the case of small-sized reactors.
The result is that of gaseous treatment products (emissions and syngases) that contain pollutants and/or not completely reacted substances (the so-called “dirty syngas”) and hence require a further treatment in a separate reactor. The treatment of the waste is hence far from being optimal.
The above is further aggravated by the geometry of known reactors, which generally have a casing defining a treatment volume in which a plasma torch is set with two or more electrodes arranged side by side and separated by a discharge gap impinged upon by a supply gas of the torch itself. Neither the casing nor the configuration of the plasma torch and of the electrodes favour mixing of the waste in the reactor or exposure of the surfaces of reaction to the plasma itself (transmission of energy occurs by irradiation), aggravating the effects of the low kinetics of reaction.